Reggie Bush, pride of USC, Heisman Trophy winner and the second overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft has lost his bid to be tell his tales in a private arbitration. And guess who is most interested in what he has to say? The NCAA, that’s who.

The deposition testimony in a civil lawsuit will create a public record about Bush’s side of a story that is more than four years old. Did he and his parents receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and goodies while he went to college, in exchange for a promise that he would become a client of Lloyd Lake and Michael Michaels after he jumped to the NFL? A promise he did not keep.

The NCAA hasn’t finalized its recommendation about whether there should be punishment meted out after its far reaching investigation into USC’s adherence to NCAA rules. It got lucky that a judge recently ruled that Bush’s testimony cannot remain secret.

The Associated Press reported that the college governing body has asked for a full transcript of Bush’s testimony and that of Mr. Michaels. Presumably it is only after reviewing all that material that USC’s fate will be determined.

In the meantime, the NFL Draft, televised on ESPN will serve as a reminder of what all this is about. Round one is scheduled for prime time on Thursday evening April 22, rounds two and three will go off on the next night and it will all wrap up on the weekend.

Bush sits down under oath on that Friday, April 23. Think those Sports Center updates won’t be have film of Reggie walking in and out of Lake’s attorney’s office surrounded by his team? Why wouldn’t they? Bush is considered one of the biggest recent success stories of a college athlete making it big in the NFL.

If his ability to stay in school and afford the things he needed or wanted was contingent on receiving financial assistance in a way that breaches NCAA rules it is news.

Not big news mind you because you and I already believe that this is a common practice.

The big news will be if USC gets punished in the present for what it might or might not have known about in the past. The school already made an admission of wrongdoing, without actually making one when it sacrificed its men’s basketball team on the altar of being a good citizen in the world of the NCAA.

But that was only about the recruiting of basketball star O.J. Mayo. While he was news out here in LA during his time at USC, he doesn’t move the meter on public interest the way the on again-off again boyfriend of Kim Karashian does.

If the stench reaches the vaunted football team it will taint former coach Pete Carroll and of course the seemingly untouchable and Teflon-like Mike Garrett, the school’s Athletic Director. Bush will go about his business without any cares unless there is something more to hide than allegedly receiving free rent for his parents and goodies for himself.

This isn’t criminal wrongdoing so don’t expect Commissioner Goodell to get involved. Reggie can write a check and make this all go away if he wants to settle the case with Lake. In the meantime, other young men will wait for their names to be called for their chance to make millions playing football. No matter what it took to get them there.

Re-printed with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

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